Cloth-laying machine



e. SOYLIAN.

CLOTH LAYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. I8, 1918.

1,333,459. PatentedMar. 9, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

AT ORNEYS G. SOYLIAN.

CLOTH LAYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18, 1918.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920,

xii/V5535? A-MAJAM my y 'G; SOY'LIAN,

CLOTH LAYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18, I918.

1,333,459. Patented Mar. 19,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR Georye Joyliam w/ m ssm A TTORNEYS' G. SOYLIAN.

CLOTH LAYING-MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-311918. 1 1 ,333 ,459. Patented Mar. 9, 920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

mnvsssm: Y mvflvrolg K5, 6 2 My. Geo ye fla yluzn.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

cnonen soYmAN, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

CLOTH-LAYING MACHINE.

To all whom may concern Be it known that I, Gnoncn SOYLIAN, a

. citizen of the United States, and a resident p accurately.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved constructionwhich is simple but accurate in operation .and wh1c h will lay cloth from. a roll or from a previously laid supply of cloth. 7

'A further object of the invent on, more specifically, is the provision of an improved arrangement which will grip the ends of the cloth as the cloth is laid and which will also automatically shift the laying mechanism according to the thickness of the laid cloth.

.A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved arrangement wherebywhen the power is turned on the laying mechanism will continue to 'operate until the power is turned off without any action on the art of the operator so that when the machlne is once started a complete roll of cloth may be laid without effort on the part of the operator.

In the accompanying drawings I Figure 1 is a side view of a machine disclosing an embodiment of the invention, certain parts being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fi 3 is a side view of the carriage shown in F1g. 1, but looking at the same from'the opposite side.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but on a reduced scale showing the carriage going in the opposite direction to that indlcated' in Fi 5.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through Fig. 2 on line 5-5, the samebeing on a slightly enlarged scale.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectlonal view through Fig. 3 on line 6-6. I

.Fig.-'( is a detail on line 77 of Fig. 1

indicating the means for adjustably clam ing the stationary transverse bars to t e table.

F ig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudlnal ver- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar.9, 1920.

Application filed October 18, 1918. Serial No. 258,679.

tical section through the upper part of a slightly modified form of carriage to that shown in Fig. 3 when a bundle of laid cloth is carried for the purpose of relaying.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals 1 indicates a table which may be any desired kind, but preferably a smooth structure for supporting the various traction wheels 2 and for supporting certain other parts of the machine hereinafter fully described. The traction-whe'els 2 are preferably four in number as shown in the drawing and flanged so that the carriage 3 will not move off of the table 1'. The carriage 3 is provided with end frames 4 connected by suitable bars whereby a rigid frame work is produced for supporting the various parts I of the laying mechanism. Arranged at one end of the carriage 3 is an electrlc motor 5 for operating a worm 6 which meshes with the worm wheel 7 also supported on the carriage 3. Worm 7 is connected with ashaft 8 carrying a sprocket wheel 9 which accommodates the chain 10, which chain in turn passes over a suitable sprocket wheel 11 secured to one of the flanged wheels 2. The shaft 8 extends entirely across the carriage 3 as shown in Fig. 2 and has a sprocket wheel 9 rigidly secured thereto for accommodat ing a chain similar to chain 10 whereby two of the flanged wheels 2 will. be positively driven for propelling the carriage 3 back and forth on table 1. The motor 5 is supplied with current from the supply wire 12, which current may be turned on and off by a manually operated switch 13. The current passes not only through switch 13, but through an automatic switch 14 and a rheostat 15 before passing into the motor 5. The automatic switch 14 is a pole changing switch and is connected with'a reciprocating bar 16, which when in the position shown in Fig. 1 causes the motor 5 to run in one direction and when moved by the stop 17 will cause the motor to operate'in the opposite direction. As shown in Fig. '1 the carriage is moved toward stop 17 and as soon as the bar 16 strikes its stop it will be moved horizontally and guided by pins 18 and 19 operating in slots 20 and 21 so that the swltch 14 will be changed and all of the moving,

. moved for shifting the pole'changingswltch 14 and the parts reversed to move back toexhausted.

ward stop 17. The bar 16 has been mentioned as being moved by these stops, but it will be evident that the bar in striking the stops 17 and 22 respectively will stand still and the other parts will move which will have the effect above described. This mechvanism will cause the carriage to move back and forth as long as current is supplied and will consequently provide layers of cloth on the table 1 until the entire roll 23 has been When this has occurred switch 13 is operated for shutting off the current so that the carriage will stop, but if for any reason the current should not be switched off the carriage will continue to operate but.

without laying any additional cloth or without affecting the cloth already laid.

At each end of the table 1 is a gripping bar 24 extending transversely of the table as shown in Fig. 2, said gripping bar coacting with a gripping platform 25.' A pair of arms 26 are rigidly secured to the gripping bar and are connected with a shaft 27 which extends through the slots 2-8 in the respective posts 29 and 30. These posts are bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to table 1 in any desired manner. Preferably these posts are bolted to a transverse bar 31 as shown in Fig. 2 which is provided with a pair of guideways at each end for receiving the sliding plates 32 and 33 which in turn carry the stops 17. Each of these stops comprises a tubular member 34 rigidly secured to part of the slide 32 and bar 35 having an enlarged end 36 against which the spring 37 presses. Spring 37 also presses against the closed end of the tubular member 34, said closed end being formed with an opening through which the bar 35 passes as shown in Fig. 5. This construction is such that when the bumper 17 or the bumper 22 is hit there willbe a yielding action in order not to throw the switch. 14 over at too great a speed or too suddenly. The arrangement of gripping bars, posts and associate parts at each end is identical so that the description of one will apply to all. However, near one end of the table 1 is arranged an inclined guide 38 whichis adapted to engage the roller 39 on rod 40 for elevating said rod whereby certain adjusting mechanism will be operated so as to take care of the pile of goods that has been laid as hereinafter fully described. Opposite the guide 38 a. resilient stop 41 is provided coacting with the lever 42. When lever 42 strikes the stop 41 said lever will be thrown over to its opposite position and as the carriage moves on the lever will snap past the stop so as to be again moved when the carriage returns. The lever 42 as shown in Fig. 5 is pivotally mounted at 43, the pivotal pin being adjust-ably mounted in slot 44 so that proper adjustment may be had at any time. When the lever 42 is moved by reason of its contact with stop 41 it will in turn move the rack 45 which meshes with the gear 46 rigidly secured to shaft 47. By this arrangement the shaft 47 is rotated whenever the lever 42 is moved and it is rotated in a direction corresponding to the movement of the lever. However the pivotal pin at 43 is arranged in slot 44 so as to allow an upward adjustment of the lever 42 by means hereinafter fully de-. scribed, so that whether the shaft 47 is in an upper or lower position it will be properly operated. The shaft 47 is journaled in suitable brackets or rack bars 48 held in proper position by suitable guides 49, there being one rack bar adjacent each side of the frame 3. The rack bars 48 continually mesh with pinions 50 *whichare rigidly secured to shaft 51, said shaft extending through one of the side frames and having connected therewith a worin gear 52 as shown in Fig. 3, said worm gear meshing with worm 54 mounted on shaft 55. This shaft carries a clutch face 56 adapted to mesh 38 and then allowed to move downward again under the action of gravity. This upward movement will give a rotary movement for a short time to shaft 55 upon each complete cycle of the carriage, so that each time two layers of cloth have been laid the racks 48 and shaft 47 will be raised. The raising of the rack just mentioned will affect the laying blocks 60 and 61 as they will be permanently raised by each upward movement of the rod 40. However, there is a temporary up and down movement of the laying bars 60 and 61 so that when the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 5 bar 60 will be in a lowered position for laying the end of the cloth beneath the gripper bar 24 at the right end of the table 1 while when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4 the laying bar 61 is in alowered position for receiving the cloth in the gripper bar at the opposite or left end of the table as shown in Fig. 1. In order to cause this up and down movement of these laying bars they are rigidly secured to vertically positioned rods 62 and 63 at each side of the machine said rods being con- .nected at the upper end by a sprocket chain At each that the sprocket Wheel 65 at each side of the machine is mounted on the shaft 47 and is rigidly secured thereto so as to be rotated when the rack is moved under the action of lever 42. From this it will be seen that when the carriage reaches the left end of the table 1 as shown in Fig. 1 lever 42 will be moved over to the right for depressing the bar 61 so that it may properly lay the cloth beneath the gripper bar 24., As the bar 42 snaps past the stop 41 it will almost immediately thereafter reverse the action and move bar 61 upwardly and bar 60 downwardly. This movement, however, does not take place until the carriage has left the gripper bar 24 a short distance so that the laying action will be continuous and the various operations will not overlap. The bars 24 and 24 are lifted in turn by the bars 60 and 61 through anti-friction rollers 60 and 61 thereon.

From Figs. 1 and 5 it will be observed per bar 24 is acting to grip another layer.

In Fig. 5 it will be observed that the cloth extends from the piled material 66 around the bar 60 over one end of the clamping bar 24 and from thence around the tension rollers 67 and 68 mounted on a pair of supporting cross bars 69. From the roller 68 the cloth extends to the roll of cloth 23 mounted on a roller 70 rotatably positioned on the upper part of the carriage 3.

In Fig. 8 will be seen aslight modified form of the invention in which the frame 3 is provided with a cloth support or rest 71 so as to receive a batch of cloth 72 which has been previously laid, but of a different length from that desired. The clothfrom the batch 72 is fed over guiding rollers 73 and 74 and the rollers 67 and 68 and from thence through the machine as heretofore described. In this way either cloth in rolls or in bundles may be properly laid any length.

In connection with laying the cloth any length it will be observed that the length of i the cloth to be laid is determined by the posi tion of the bars or plates 31 and the gripping bars 24 and 24. j nsted back and forth alon the table 1 to any desired extent within t e limits of the length of the table. In order to take care of the increasing thickness of the pile 66 of cloth which has been laid the gripping bars 24 are not only pivotally mounted by reason -of the arrangement of the arms 26, shaft 27 and associate parts, but the shaft 27 moves upwardly as the gripping bars are moved upwardly by the action of the bars 60 and 61 so that there will always be plenty of gripping action by reason of the weight of the gripping bars, but the gripping bars always maintained in position for properly exerting this'weight. As will be observed These may be adjustable by bolts which are preferably positioned in the slots used by the bars 31. WVhen the clamping bars are properly adjusted shaft '55 is operated manually by a suitable crank connected therewith so as to bring the parts back to their starting position and then the cloth is placed in position for operation after which the current is turned on andleft on until all of the cloth or as much as desired has been properly laid.

lVhat I claim is: 4

1. In a cloth laying machine of the character described a pair of spaced gripping means, a table supporting said gripping means, a carriage movably mounted on said table, a pair of la ing bars arranged on said carriage, there being one laying bar for-each gripping member so as to force a section of cloth between the respective gripping members as the carriage approaches, apair of vertically movable rods connected to said laying bars, a chain connectin the upper end of said vertically mova 1e rods, a sprocket. wheel engaging said chain, and means for rocking said sprocket wheel so as to successively move upwardly and downwardly said gripping bars whereby they may come opposite their respective gripping members.

2. In a cloth laying machine of the character described a supporting table, a carriage for supporting a suppl of cloth, a pair of laying bars for guidlng the cloth as it is folded back and forth, means for raising and lowering said barssuccessively so as to cause a proper bend, said means in cluding a gear wheel, a rack meshing with said gear wheel, a lever on the carriage for actuating said rack, and a stop positioned on said table for causing the actuation of said lever as said carriage moves back and forth.

3. In a cloth laying machine of the character described, a supporting table, a carriage for supporting a supply of cloth,

mechanism for said pinion including a ratchet wheel, a reciprocating rack bar meshing therewith, an inclined way engaging the lower end of said rack bar for operating the same upon'each complete reciprocation of the carriage, and a manually actu-- ated member for operating said ratchet wheel and the parts connected therewith for lowering said laying bars when starting a new pile.

4. In a cloth laying machine of the char acter described a supporting table, a carriage movably mounted on said table, spaced gripping means mounted on said table, means for supporting a supply of cloth on said carriage, a pair of laying bars for holding said cloth as the carriage reaches either of its extreme positions in its back and forth movement, means for, supportlngvsaid bars, said means 1nclud1ng a supporting rack automatic means for actulaying bars both upwardly and downwardly during the back and forth movement of the carriage for causing one of the laying bars to enter-one of the gripping means when the carriage is at one end of its travel while the other laying bar passes over said gripping means.

GEORGE SOYLIAN. 

